


A pinch of softness

by nylie



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Bakery and Coffee Shop, Canon Compliant, Gen, M/M, Other ships mentioned, ikejiriday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-19
Updated: 2016-02-19
Packaged: 2018-05-21 22:47:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6060958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nylie/pseuds/nylie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ikejiri is fifteen when they fall apart. He feels guilty then. He should have tried more; called more, texted more, maybe then, they’d still be friends.</p><p>Ikejiri is twenty-six when Sawamura enters through the Coffee & Bakery door, which ends in an impromptu catching-up coffee after closing up. </p><p> </p><p>written for ikejiriday, prompt: future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A pinch of softness

**Author's Note:**

> I started two fics for _ikejiriday_ , and managed to finish none. This still stands on its own, so i decided to post it anyway. It's unbeta'ed, and not as carefully checked as I like my things to be, but I wanted to post it today anyway. This was supposed to be much longer and bigger and maybe one day I'll write something else in the same universe, for now, I hope this is enough. 
> 
> To be honest, this was inspired on Suga & Yui hard affection/love.
> 
> HAPPY BIRTHDAY, IKEJIRI <3

 

“You were the nicest,” Sawamura says looking out the window, his hands curled around the cup of coffee. His fingers tap on the cardboard surface absent-minded.

 

Hayato raises an eyebrow in confusion and sips from his own beverage, expecting Sawamura to continue. When he doesn’t, Hayato speaks up.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

Sawamura laughs in way that feels familiar. It sounds coarse, rough around the edges and it’s strong enough to reverberate along the empty shop. Sawamura’s laughter is blunt and open and makes Hayato’s lips twitch into a smile.

 

“It’s just―”

 

Sawamura scrubs the back of his neck, all pink around the edges, and looks outside to avoid Hayato’s inquisitive stare. He laughs again, more contained, and Hayato feels the urge to nudge him under the table like he used to do back when they were friends. Instead, he waits; they are strangers now. It doesn’t take long for Sawamura to continue, once again tapping against his untouched coffee.

 

“You were the nicest of my… relationships. Back then? I mean―” Sawamura coughs and lifts his eyes towards Hayato with a smile, “you know, those frantic teen years of first dates and crushes? Well, you were the nicest”.

 

“I was the nicest.” Hayato isn’t sure whether he is seeking confirmation or teasing Sawamura. Either way he feels embarrassed and amused at the same time, so he hides his blush behind a sip of his latte.

 

“Oh, shut up―well, you _were_ ”.

 

“Never had you for a sap, Sawamura,” he teases when he puts the cup down. His cheeks still burn, as if he was still fourteen pining over his best friend. “It doesn’t suit _this you_ ,” he gestures up and down Sawamura’s figure, unable to keep the glee from his voice. 

 

It’s the other man turn to quirk his eyebrows in silent curiosity. But Sawamura doesn’t ask, preferring to taste his ―probably cold― drink. He keeps his tapping on the table with his free hand as he closes his eyes and empties half the content of his cup. Hayato’s eyes linger on the line of his jaw and follow the way his Adam’s apple bobbles up and down as he drinks. Sawamura’s edges are strong and defined and Ikejiri has to make himself look away. He stares at his latte instead, as if it may contain all the answers to the universe.

 

“Did they last?” he asks aloud, voice soft. It still sounds too loud in the empty place and Ikejiri wishes he’d suggested going somewhere else.

 

“What did?”

 

“Your relationships, from, you know, those _frantic teen first dates and crushes_?” Hayato smiles lopsided and Sawamura laughs, free of constrains.

 

“Yes and no,” he admits, looking pensive. “I dated Michimiya for a like a week”.

 

“Michimiya? Michimiya Yui?” Hayato gasps in surprise and tilts forward to grab one of the pastries Hana-chan left in the table for them. He speaks again before putting the coffee jelly on his mouth. “You and Michimiya?”

 

“I’d said you didn’t need sound so surprised but we did last barely a week,” Sawamura scoffs and drains the last drops of coffee from his cup, settling the paper cup with a satisfied sigh on the table. “T’was a good week. We laugh at it from time to time.”

 

“I’d gather you’re still in touch then?”

 

“Actually, I saw her on Thursday, I think? I don’t see her much since she moved to Tokyo, but we share some group messages,” Sawamura glances outside. Night falls quickly on the streets of Sendai and the lamps post give a soft light over the pavement. It looks peaceful, people walking by without rush. “Turns out she’s dating Ennoshita now―ah, an underclassman from Karasuno,” Sawamura adds as an afterthought.

 

Hayato nods. He feels foreigner to the Sawamura sitting in front of him, to Michimiya ―a girl, a woman now, he hasn’t seen since he turned fifteen, to the names he can’t pick up and doesn’t know. Hayato gets up, gesturing Sawamura to stay still, and grabs the empty cups from the table. He throws them away, and picks a couple of water glasses from the other side of the counter, speaking again as he comes back.

 

“So who was lucky enough to last?”

 

“Ah, that’d be Suga”.

 

Hayato sits down and pushes one of the glasses towards Sawamura, grabbing his with both hands and smiling down at the blush on Sawamura’s ears.

 

“I don’t know if you remember him? Around our height? Light hair, mole under his left eye. _Really_ pretty.” Sawamura coughs a laugh and Hayato smiles fondly in response. “Eh, he was my vice-captain during our third year. Although, I’m not sure he played against you.”

 

Hayato can’t pin point him in his memories. He has this image of Karasuno team looking huge and strong both outside and inside the court, but the only face he recognizes in between all the black and orange is Sawamura’s. He shakes his head with a small “sorry” on his lips.

 

“We started dating after Nationals, just right before the end of our third year.” Sawamura smile is open. Hayato can sense Sawamura feels slightly embarrassed at the topic, but he can’t make himself feel guilty about it, he has the urge to know. “We were together almost two years.”

 

“Why did you―”

 

Sawamura shrugs, a small smile on his lips, while he circles the top of the glass with one of his fingers. For someone as stoic and calm as Sawamura, Hayato always found himself drawn by his small quirks.

 

“Timing, perhaps. I don’t think it was for us, we were too young. I bet you remember how easy it was to believe you were in love.”

 

There’s a beat of silence and Ikejiri wets his lips against his glass, just to distract himself from the embarrassing thoughts that plague his mind. He won’t admit it aloud, but he had sworn he was in love with Sawamura back then. It seems silly now, so he smiles and nods, prompting Sawamura to continue.

 

“We were best friends first, so in the end, we chose to stay that way. He remains my best friend, even now.”

 

Sawamura laughs again, against all prognosis it doesn’t sound bitter but rather lively and amused. It echoes inside Hayato and it makes his blood plump with fond memories of afternoons in each other homes. It’s getting late outside, although Sawamura hasn’t made any comments about it. Hayato wonders if he’ll be in a rush to leave soon or if he is as enthralled in their conversation as he is to let time pass. Just like all the years that set them apart.

 

“So, how come I’m the nicest?” he dares asks, gulping down a sip of water and crossing his legs under his body on the not-so-comfortable chair.

 

“Well,” Sawamura scrapes the lower part of his hair in the back of his neck, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “I’m not sure nicest is the right choice of word.”

 

“You said nicest like four times, Sawamura.”

 

“Still…” there’s a glint of a glare on his eyes when he speaks, but it gets lost in the pink that spreads on his cheeks from embarrassment. “I’m not sure which would be the word. Soft? Maybe?”

 

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” Hayato intends to be taunting, but it comes out a little strained, just as he feels. He is sure it isn’t Sawamura’s intention to offend him, but it feels too close to old insecurities and fears.

 

“YES!”  Sawamura screams then. He apologizes immediately, looking down to his hands in his lap. He takes a deep breath before he stares back at Ikejiri and speaks up. “I mean― Do you remember how Michimiya would always hit us when she was happy about something, or she didn’t know how to react to a thing?” Hayato nods, he probably can still find traces of their friend in his arms if he wanted to. “Well, Suga is _worse_. Whether he is mad, happy or concerned, it is his default reaction. All the freaking time.”

 

“ _All_ the time?” Hayato raises an eyebrow playfully, and laughs when ―after nodding without thinking― Sawamura blushes deep red and splutters a ‘what?’ in understanding.

 

“Wow. I take it back. You are not soft. You are the complete opposite of soft. Who are you and what did you do to nice Ikejiri?”

 

“He grew up.”

 

He doesn’t feel grown up when he says it. Or when he looks around at the Coffee and Bakery shop where he works. Or when he thinks about how he is still living at home because between his studies and how little he gains he can’t afford anything else. But he has changed, even if slightly. So when Sawamura stares dead on at him, a soft smile on his lips, Hayato doesn’t back down and smiles right back.

 

 

 


End file.
